Iron sharpens Iron
by mmouse15
Summary: Written to answer this prompt: there's a reason Prime always tries to keep them together, and it has everything to do with their charming personalities.


A/N: written in response to a prompt on lj comm tfic_contest

_46. Continuity: Movie  
Characters/Pairings: Ratchet and Ironhide or Ratchet/Ironhide  
Prompt/Premise: "Iron sharpens iron" - there's a reason Prime always tries to keep them together, and it has everything to do with their charming personalities.  
Preferred Rating: Anything's fine_

* * *

"Ironhide!" Ratchet's roar sent birds soaring into the air and crabs scuttling away. The chartreuse medic stomped to the doorway of the hanger the Autobots were housed in.

Ironhide accelerated away in his vehicle form. Ratchet snarled and folded himself into his vehicle mode and tore out after him.

Lennox looked up from his paperwork and smiled. Sam Witwicky, standing near him, noted the smile and asked, "What's up with them?"

Lennox shook his head and told him, "Ask Prime. He'll explain it much better than I could."

Sam shrugged and turned back to the stack of papers he was going through. Having to get a top secret clearance when you didn't work for the government was a major pain in his nether regions.

Later, however, he was in a lull and Optimus was nearby, so he did ask.

"Ratchet and Ironhide always seem to be…I dunno…fighting with each other, and I guess I kinda wondered why you picked them for your team," Sam started the conversation.

Optimus gave a sound suspiciously close to a chuckle and offered Sam a seat on his leg.

"Many, many years ago, before your world had even coalesced, Ratchet was a diplomat."

Sam jerked around to look up at Optimus, "No way!"

"Indeed he was. He quit when it became apparent that diplomacy was not going to stop the coming war and went into training as a medic."

"OK, I guess I could see that." Sam answered.

Optimus bent over and gave Sam a look. "He is quite a good medic, but when he was starting out, he was still burdened with the politician's mantle of subtlety and politeness."

Sam snorted, "He's lost those."

Optimus agreed, "Yes, and part of the reason is Ironhide, who pushed him and challenged him and didn't respond to anything but the bluntest of orders."

As the sun sank below the horizon, a breeze started and Sam moved closer to the warmth offered by Optimus.

"So, if they play off each other, what does Ironhide get out of it?"

This time Optimus did laugh. "Ironhide gets someone as stubborn as he is, who won't back down and who is actually capable of subduing him if necessary to repair him. Otherwise, my weapons specialist would just continue to fight with injuries, and I think I would have lost him a very long time ago."

Sam watched as the big black truck and the chartreuse ambulance rolled into the hanger and made their way to the corner given over to the Autobots. Ratchet was still grumbling, but he hunkered down next to Ironhide and they both fell silent.

"So, it's a good match, then." Sam stated.

"Yes, it is. Ironhide keeps Ratchet from despair, while Ratchet keeps Ironhide from dying on me. I need both of them, and together, they keep each other going, for themselves and for me."

"Wow. I never would have thought that being a leader meant matching 'bots up based upon them rubbing each other the wrong way." Sam mused.

Optimus was obviously looking up the reference, for it took him a moment to respond. "Rather than rubbing each other the wrong way, I prefer to think of it as they sharpen each other in all the right ways."

Sam grinned at that, and snuggled into Optimus a little more. "Sounds good."

Optimus looked down at the human falling asleep in his lap and carefully scooped the young man up, then clambered to his feet. Lennox pointed to a cot used by the communications group, and Optimus deposited Sam on the cot, drawing up the blanket at the foot and covering the young man. He gazed thoughtfully down at Sam for a few moments, remarking quietly, "It's rather like how you and Mikaela sharpen each other, Sam, but you wouldn't be able to see that yet. Someday, perhaps."

Optimus turned back to his duties feeling lighter for remembering why he was continuing to fight this war. Friendships sparked in adversary were forged into a strong bond and rather than being a weakness, provided a shield for their faction, sheltered those weaker than themselves with their own combined strength and fortitude.

The End


End file.
